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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319116">coping mechanisms</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves'>girlsarewolves</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>treats [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Evil Dead (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash, Holding Hands, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, Post-Canon, Surprise Ending, mild violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 07:55:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nancy can't sleep. Mia has nightmares. But they make do.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mia Allen/Nancy Holbrook</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>treats [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1434862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Battleship 2020, Battleship 2020 - Red Team</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>coping mechanisms</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYearOfTheWolf/gifts">TheYearOfTheWolf</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>"Bad dreams?"</p><p> </p><p>Nancy looked up from her sketchpad, smiling with bleary eyes as Mia padded over and sat down beside her. "Just couldn't get to sleep. Sorry if I woke you."</p><p> </p><p>"You didn't. I guess I'm the only one with the bad dreams tonight." Mia took a peek at what Nancy was working on, at the bloody lines over a baby pink background, four claw-like knives hooking through the gashes of red. She winced, resting her head on Nancy's shoulder. "You okay?"</p><p> </p><p>"...are either of us ever really okay?"</p><p> </p><p>Mia snorted. "Fair enough."</p><p> </p><p>"What about you?" Nancy asked. Her hand stilled, lowered the colored pencil as she tilted her head to focus on Mia. "You want to talk?" It was clear she was trying not to be pushy - because Nancy knew well what it was like to have personal demons that were too painful to talk about. She also knew that feeling of something awful in your gut that you were desperate to let out, desperate for someone else to hear and validate and understand. And no one understood bad dreams like Nancy.</p><p> </p><p>Just some of the many things they had in common.</p><p> </p><p>Mia gave a weak shrug. The nightmares were fading now, a vague recollection of feelings more than any specific details. "I think I was at the cabin again. I felt so alone..." She swallowed, unaware that she was shaking until one of Nancy's hands moved to lay over hers. She curled her fingers tight around the offered comfort. "I don't think there were demons, just...drugs. And I think I was going through withdrawal," she continued. The dream became clearer as she talked, as if she was speaking it back into memory. "My hand was shaking so bad, and I just took a butcher knife and <em>chopped</em> and <em>chopped</em> until it was off. And then - David. David was there. But he was one of them, and he was taking the drugs and laughing. Just...laughing." Tears burned and blurred her vision, and Mia gratefully accepted the embrace when Nancy shifted to pull her in.</p><p> </p><p>"You're here, Mia. You're safe, and you're clean." Her fingers combed through Mia's hair as she whispered assurances.</p><p> </p><p>A weak, bitter laugh escaped Mia. "I know, but...sometimes, I don't know if it's my own fucked up trauma making me dream these things, or..."</p><p> </p><p>"Them." It wasn't a question. And it wasn't just empty validation. Nancy never offered that. Every time Mia was worried that whatever evil lurked in that cabin, had infected those woods, was loose, was after her, was somehow reaching her, Nancy took it one hundred percent seriously. How could she not?</p><p> </p><p>Mia nodded, arms sliding around Nancy and holding on. She almost laughed at herself. She'd been trying to comfort Nancy, and somehow the tables had turned. "Yeah. I don't think it's them, or it. Whatever. I just can't shake that paranoia, you know?"</p><p> </p><p>Nancy nodded, sighing. "Yeah. I know."</p><p> </p><p>"What about you? You want to talk?" </p><p> </p><p>Nancy was quiet for what felt like a really long time, but probably was just a few minutes that Mia's worry she'd pushed too much dragged out in her perception. When she spoke up, her voice was smaller than it had been a moment ago. Monotone, almost slurred. Like she was forcing the words out through a mouth of cotton. She didn't want to talk, but she didn't want to keep it bottled up, either. "I tried to sleep. But tonight was one of those nights. Where every time I start to drift off, I swear I feel steam on my skin, or hear his laugh. Or the scrape of metal on metal. And I know that he's powerless now, but I still...my brain can't accept it tonight. There's that paranoid dread that something's changed, and I can't take that chance, because what if it's right?" She closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath. "I tell myself we've taken care of it, that nothing's changed, but if I'm wrong..."</p><p> </p><p>"Hey. You just listened to me talk about a trauma induced nightmare that I'm worried some demons trapped out in the woods sent me. And you took it seriously, too. Cause that's our life." Mia pulled back enough to cup Nancy's face with her hand, thumb slowly stroking over her skin. "It's a fair worry to have. Did you check to make sure everything was okay?"</p><p> </p><p>"No." Nancy's gaze faltered. "I was scared to."</p><p> </p><p>Mia grinned. "Then let's go check together. I think we could use a stress reliever anyway."</p><p> </p><p>The two of them got up from the couch and walked over to the basement. Nancy grabbed the two baseball bats left beside the door, handing one off to Mia before her empty fingers gripped the door handle. When she hesitated, Mia gently knocked her with her shoulder and nodded.</p><p> </p><p>"Go on. We can do this."</p><p> </p><p>Nancy opened the door slowly, flicking the light on and checking immediately to make sure everything was in place. All the symbols in blood, the charms, no sign of anything being moved, no crispy pervert rushing at them having broken free. She opened the door wider and led the way down the stairs, Mia only a step behind. Her bare feet on the cold, hard floor of the basement, she stopped and waited until Mia was standing beside her.</p><p> </p><p>"See? He's still here. All's well," Mia said. It was comforting to her, too - if Nancy's demon was still locked up, it made it easier to believe hers were too.</p><p> </p><p>Bound and chained in the middle of the basement floor, surrounded by spells that kept him and any lingering supernatural energy trapped there, Fred Krueger glared at them balefully. He's human appearance was still bruised and swollen from the last time Nancy had needed an outlet for her fears and anger. His bare hands were shaking, probably from hunger. It had been a few days since they'd bothered to feed him. His right hand lifted though, flipping them both off. It was just a hand though. Just a measly finger with a short, dirty nail. Nothing so terrifying as a metal claw to make himself feel big.</p><p> </p><p>"Evening, Krueger," Mia greeted with a sneer, idly swinging her bat.</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck you, little pig," he snarled, the words muffled slightly by a swollen, busted lip that was taking a while to heal up.</p><p> </p><p>Nancy stepped forward, gearing her bat up for a swing. "Not tonight, fucker." The resounding crack of bat against jaw was music to their ears.</p>
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